Nevada

Nevada
is a state located in the western United
States. The population as of July 2004 was estimated to be 2,334,771,
up nearly 17% from the 2000 census figure of 1,998,257. Nevada
is the fastest growing state in the country. Between 2000 and 2003,
Nevada's population increased 12.2%, while the USA's population increased
3.3%. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada's population increased 66.3%, while
the USA's population increased 13.1%.

Nevada's nickname
is "The Silver State," and the state's motto is "All
for Our Country." "Home Means Nevada" by Bertha Rafetto
is the state song. The phrase "Battle Born" is on the state
flag; "The Battle Born State" is the official state slogan,
as Nevada was admitted into
the union during the American Civil War.

Despite the name's
derivation from the Spanish word nevada meaning "snowy," the
local pronunciation of the state's name is not "Ne-vah-da";
the middle syllable has a short a sound as in cat or hat. (Residents
often regard the pronunciation as a test of whether visitors such as
presidential candidates, have informed themselves about the state.)
In 2005, the state issued a new series of license plates that list the
name of the state as Nevada
to help with the pronunciation problem.

Several United States
Navy ships have been named USS Nevada in honor of the state.

Geography

It is in a mountain
region that includes semiarid grasslands and sandy deserts, and is the
most arid (dry) state in the nation. Nevada
is a land of rugged, snow-capped mountains, grassy valleys and sandy
deserts. The northern and central portions of Nevada
are mostly within the Great Basin Desert, while portions of the southern
tip are within the Mojave Desert.

History

In 1850, the U.S.
Congress established the Utah
territory which included the present day states of Utah,
Idaho and Nevada.
1859 saw the discovery of the Comstock Lode, a rich outcropping of gold
and silver, and Virginia
City sprang up. This discovery brought a flood of miners, prospectors,
merchants and others hoping to strike it rich.

On March 2, 1861,
Nevada separated from the
Utah territory and adopted
its current name, shortened from Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy
range"). On October 31, 1864, just eight days prior to the presidential
election, Nevada became
the 36th state in the union. Statehood was rushed through despite Nevada's
tiny population to help ensure Abraham Lincoln's reelection and post-Civil
War Republican dominance in congress. As Nevada's mining-based economy
tied it to the more industrialized Union, it was viewed as politically
reliable (as opposed to the more agrarian and Confederate-sympathizing
California).

Nevada
achieved its current boundaries on May 5, 1866 when it absorbed the
portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona
Territory west of the Colorado River. The transfer was prompted by the
discovery of gold in the area, and it was thought that Nevada
would be better able to oversee the expected population boom. This area
includes most of what is now Clark County, Nevada.

Negotiations are
currently underway for Nevada
to annex Wendover,
Utah, which would be merged with West
Wendover, Nevada. This deal will require the permission of both
the Nevada and Utah legislatures and the U.S. Congress.

Mining shaped Nevada's
economy for many years. In the late 1800's, the Comstock Lode played
out, and Nevada went into
a tailspin. There was even talk of stripping away statehood, the only
time in American history such an action was discussed in Congress. However,
the rich silver strike at Tonopah
in 1900 helped save the state. This was soon followed by strikes in
Goldfield
and Rhyolite
in the following years. These strikes lasted well into the 1910s and
made Nevada a dominant player
in mining once again. Mines still control a good percentage of Nevada's
economy. Gold from the Carlin Trend in Northern Nevada
is the second richest in the world. Other minerals, such as copper,
molybdenum, and lithium, are also mined.

Despite Nevada
being the third oldest western state, it is referred to as the "Permanent
Colony" as over 87% of the land is owned by the Federal Government.
The primary reason for this is that homesteads were not permitted in
large enough sizes to be viable in the arid conditions that prevail
throughout Nevada. Instead,
early settlers would homestead land surrounding a water source, and
then graze livestock on the adjacent public land, which is useless for
agriculture without access to water (this pattern of ranching still
prevails). The deficiencies in the Homestead Act as applied to Nevada
were probably due to a lack of understanding of the Nevada environment,
although some firebrands (so-called "Sagebrush Rebels") maintain
that it was due to pressure from mining interests to keep land out of
the hands of common folk.

Gambling was common
in the early Nevada mining towns, but was outlawed in 1909 as part of
a nation-wide anti-gaming crusade. Due to a sharp decline in mining
output in the 1920s and the decline of the agricultural sector during
the Great Depression, Nevada
re-legalized gambling in 1931. At the time, the leading proponents of
gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's
economic base widened to include less cyclical industries, however re-outlawing
gambling has never been seriously considered since.

A fictional history
(with a great deal of fact) titled Nevada was written by Clint McCullough.

Law and Government

Due to the tremendous
growth of Las Vegas in recent years, there is a noticeable divide between
politics of Northern Nevada
and Southern Nevada. The
north has long maintained control of key positions in the state government
even while the Las Vegas area is larger than the rest of the state (the
"cow counties"). This has fostered resentment as the north
sees the south as a potential bully of majority rule and the south sees
the north as the "old guard" trying to rule as an oligarchy.
Most people outside the state are not familiar with this rivalry.

The state is not
dominated by either major political party. Democrat Bill Clinton won
the state in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections and Republican
George Bush won Nevada in
2000 and 2004. In 2004, George Bush narrowly won the state's 5 electoral
votes by a margin of 2 percentage points with 50.5% of the vote. Las
Vegas' Clark county, which contains the majority of the state's population,
was the only county to vote Democratic.

Economics

The Bureau of Economic
Analysis estimates that Nevada's total state product in 2003 was $88
billion. Per capital personal income in 2003 was $31,910, 19th in the
nation. Its agricultural outputs are cattle, hay, dairy products, onions
and potatoes. Its industrial outputs are tourism, mining, machinery,
printing and publishing, food processing, and electric equipment. It
is well-known for gambling and nightlife. Large, luxurious casinos in
Las Vegas,
Lake Tahoe
and Reno attract
visitors from around the world.

Demographics

According to the
Census Bureau, as of 2003, the population of Nevada
was 2,241,154.

The racial makeup
of the state is:

65.2% White non-Hispanic

19.7% Hispanic

6.8% Black

4.5% Asian

0.9% Native
American

1.4% Mixed race

The five largest
ancestry groups in Nevada
are: German (14.1%), Mexican (12.7%), Irish (11%), English (10.1%),
Italian (6.6%), American (4.8%).

Nevadans of British
ancestry dominate most counties in the state. Las Vegas and Pershing
county are heavily Mexican; Nye and Humboldt counties have large German-American
populations.

6.8% of its population
were reported as under 5, 26.3% under 18, and 13.6% were 65 or older.
Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population. As a result of
its rapid population growth, Nevada
has a higher percentage of residents born outside of the state than
any other state.

Important Cities and Towns

Nevada
is also reputedly the home of Area 51, a top-secret installation
the U.S. federal government has always denied existed. Area 51 is
supposedly located in Groom Lake, near Nellis
Air Force Base.

Colleges and Universities

Sierra
Nevada College

University
and Community College System of Nevada

University
of Nevada, Las Vegas

University
of Nevada, Reno

Nevada
State College at Henderson

Community
College of Southern Nevada

Great
Basin College

Truckee
Meadows Community College

Western
Nevada Community College

Sports Teams

Las Vegas Gladiators,
Arena Football League

Las Vegas 51s,
minor league baseball

Las Vegas Wranglers,
East Coast Hockey League

Famous Nevadans

Andre Agassi
tennis player

Walter van Tilburg
Clark writer

Michael Chang
tennis player

Jenna Jameson
adult film actress

Jack Kramer
tennis player

Paul Laxalt
politician

Robert Laxalt
writer

Greg Maddux
Major League Baseball player

Pat Nixon First
Lady

Harry Reid Senate
Minority Leader

Edna Purviance
actress

Steve Wynn casino
owner

Barry Zito Major
League Baseball player

Transportation

Interstate 15 passes
through the southern tip of the state, serving Las
Vegas and other communities. It has spur routes I-215 and I-515.
Interstate 80 crosses through the northern part of Nevada,
reaching from Utah in the
east and passing westward through Reno
and into California. It
has a spur route, I-580. Nevada
also is served by several federal highways: US-6, US-50, US-93, US-95
and US-395. There are also 189 Nevada State Highways.

The state is one
of just a few in the country that allow semi-trailer combinations with
three trailers—what might be called a "road train" in
Australia. However, American versions are usually smaller, in part because
they must ascend and descend some fairly steep mountain passes.

Union Pacific Railroad
has some railroads in the north and in the south (map). Amtrak's California
Zephyr uses one of the northern branches in a daily service from Chicago,
Illinois to Emeryville,
California serving Elko,
Winnemucca,
Sparks, and
Reno. Burlington
Northern Santa Fe has trackage rights to the Union Pacific lines in
the north.

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